Top 12 types of Facebook statuses

I love coming up with ideas for Facebook statuses. Even more than that, though, I love when my friends interact with what I’ve written. So I experiment.

From that, here are 12 types of statuses that I’ve found work well and tend to get a lot of responses. It helps if you have a fair amount of friends on Facebook, but even if you don’t, you can still get some excellent conversations going with these.

Questions: These work especially well if they’re easy to answer. Still, don’t be afraid to ask deeper questions. You won’t get the same quantity of responses, but the quality will probably be better. Example: QUESTION: Why should (or shouldn’t) I vote?

Quotes: You won’t necessarily get a lot of comments when you post a quote, but if it’s a good one, you’ll get a lot of LIKES. Example: “Commitment always means making a choice to give up other choices.” -Scott Stanley

Fill in the blanks: This is where you can get a little outrageous. It works, though, because you’re usually not asking for much from people, just a one or two word response. Example: FILL IN THE BLANK: For some reason, Christmas always reminds me of ______.

LIKE this if: Time to stretch your empathy muscles. Think of something that multiple people will have strong opinions about, either for or against, and then use this kind of status to get a ton of LIKES. Example: LIKE THIS IF you’d rather just watch The Office right now.

Tell me X, and I’ll tell Y: This is a straight up trade. Offer them something they want, like flattery, and you can ask for anything (well, almost). Example: Tell me something you enjoyed about today, and I’ll tell you something I like about you.

Options: This is where you list some options and have your friends choose them in a specific way. You can ask friends to arrange the options from least to greatest, choose three of their favorites, or create the most outrageous combination. You have a ton of variations to play with. Example: PICK THREE: a) dinner, b) movie, c) long walk, d) concert, e) book, f) the Internet, g) shopping, h) board games, i) something you’ve never done before.

Relationship news: Usually relationship news spreads via the automatic post when you change your relationship status. But, you’ll actually get more responses if you mention something about it in a status, even if it’s super simple. Example: is in a relationship.

Friendly tags: Maybe no one else will care, but the friends you tag definitely will. Example: Just grabbed coffee with @Dru Longhofer. I’m pretty sure everyone in the world should do this once in a while. (If you’re not familiar with tags on Facebook, check my earlier post.

Stories: If something notable happens, especially if it’s funny, share it on Facebook. Just keep it down to a couple sentences. Example: My brothers and I were helping my mom do some landscaping when she said, “If women were as strong as men, imagine what we’d get done.” Later I was struggling to move some mulch, so my brother said, “If Marshall were as strong as women, imagine what he’d get done.”

Lyrics: I hesitate to include this one because I think a lot of people overdo it. That said, if you find a snappy lyric that, by itself, means something cool, post it up. Some friends will LIKE it just because they recognize it. Others will finish it. Example: “You may say that I’m a dreamer…”

A-Z lists: You’re recruiting your friends to make an A to Z list, so you should get at least 26 comments. Just make sure to choose a topic that’s not too difficult. Example: Let’s list some good movies from A to Z. Go… (I like to start these off by commenting on my own status with the first example. So for this one, I might put, “A is for A Beautiful Mind.”)

Last person to comment: Okay, this is just a cheap way to get some comments. If you want a conversation sometime, though, it can be a good way to start one without any real topic. Example: Last person to comment on this status wins.

So yeah, try ’em out. Experiment a little yourself. See how it goes. Facebook’s a lot more fun this way.